The Hindu : 3 cos. forge alliance with U.S. firm

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 25, 2003

Business

Business

3 cos. forge alliance with U.S. firm

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI MARCH 24. Three pharmaceutical companies have come together to forge a grand alliance with a U.S. firm to form an enlarged platform to serve the needs of global life science outfits in a cost-effective and non-compete way.

The three Indian firms that have come together to form the `Life Sciences Alliance' with Austin Chemical Company of the U.S. are: Shashun Chemicals and Drugs, Suven Pharmaceuticals and Innovasynth Technologies (India).

The alliance will encompass research, development and manufacturing activities. It will focus on providing the entire spectrum of drug development services — from discovery to distribution and the like.

The alliance comes even as the Indian pharmaceutical industry is gearing to confront the new intellectual property regime that will come into force by 2005.

Though these companies have come on a common canvas, the key to the success of this alliance is their individual core competence and how best they are able to leverage it by co-sharing and optimally using their resources.

Austin is expected to play the role of a facilitator in integrating their services under a common platform.

The alliance was announced at a hurriedly convened press conference here today and attended by top brass of the three Indian firms and Don Butler, Chief Scientific Officer of Austin.

The alliance is projected as the first sure step towards integrating services that will establish speed, quality and value and recognition of the networking capabilities of the Indian companies.

The member firms are now developing systems that would help integrate personnel, capacities and capabilities. The objective is to offer a host of services and products, fully supported by global regulatory compliance.

The alliance will enable the local companies to take advantage of the `outsourcing' opportunities the global life science outfits see in India. This sort of alliance, they argue, will also avoid unnecessary investment and competition by laying much story by the complementary role.

The alliance could be enlarged to include more if warranted.

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